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The New C Standard - An Economic and Cultural Commentary

2006-01-29T05:16:00.000-08:00

Author(s) : Derek M. Jones
Last Update : August 2005

This book is about the latest version of the C Standard, ISO/IEC 9899:1999 plus TC1 and TC2. It is structured as a detailed, systematic analysis of that entire language standard. A few higher-level themes run through all this detail, these are elaborated inside this book. This book is driven by existing developer practices, not ideal developer practices (whatever they might be). How developers use computer languages is not the only important issue; the writing of translators for them and the characteristics of the hosts on which they have to be executed are also a big influence on the language specification.

Every sentence in the C Standard appears in this book (under the section heading C99). Each of these sentences are followed by a Commentary section, and sections dealing with C90, C++, Other Languages, Common Implementations, Coding Guidelines, Example, and Usage as appropriate. A discussion of each of these sections follows.

A common complaint made about the author's discussion of C is that it centers on what the standard says, not on how particular groups of developers use the language. No apology is made for this outlook. There can be no widespread discussion about C until all the different groups of developers start using consistent terminology, which might as well be that of the standard. While it is true that the author's involvement in the C Standards' process and association with other like-minded people has resulted in a strong interest in unusual cases that rarely, if ever, occur in practice, the author promises to try to limit himself to situations that occur in practice, or at least only use the more obscure cases when they help to illuminate the meaning or intent of the C Standard.

No apologies are given for limiting the discussion of language extensions. If the reader want to learn the details of specific extensions, he should refer to his vendors' manuals.

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Text Processing in Python

2005-10-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

Author : David Mertz
Publication Date : June 2003
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

At the broadest level text processing is simply taking textual information and doing something with it. This doing might be restructuring or reformatting it, extracting smaller bits of information from it, algorithmically modifying the content of the information, or performing calculations that depend on the textual information.

Text processing is arguably what most programmers spend most of their time doing. Configuration files, log files, CSV and fixed-length data files, error files, documentation, and source code itself are all just sequences of words with bits of constraint and formatting applied.

In this book, Python was chosen in large part because it is such a clear, expressive, and general-purpose language. But for all Python's virtues, text editors and small utilities will always have an important place for developers getting the job done. As simple as Python is, it is still more complicated than you need to achieve many basic tasks. But once you get past the very simple, Python is a perfect language for making the difficult things possible (and it is also good at making the easy things simple).

What sets text processing most clearly apart from other tasks computer programmers accomplish is the frequency with which we perform text processing on an ad hoc or one-shot basis. We retrieve the text and write a script to process it. And when the next requirement came, the script you reluctantly used a second time turns out to be quite similar to a more general task you will need to perform frequently, perhaps even automatically. You imagine that with only a slight amount of extra work you can generalize and expand the script, maybe add a little error checking and some runtime options while you are at it.

This book is ideally suited for programmers who are a little bit familiar with Python, and whose daily tasks involve a fair amount of text processing chores. Programmers who have some background in other programming languages--especially with other scripting languages--should be able to pick up enough Python to get going by reading Appendix A.

While Python is a rather simple language at heart, this book is not intended as a tutorial on Python for nonprogrammers. Instead, this book is about two other things: getting the job done, pragmatically and efficiently; and understanding why what works works and what doesn't work doesn't work, theoretically and conceptually. As such, this book can be useful both to working programmers and to students of programming at a level just past the introductory.

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Programming The Nintendo Game Boy Advance: The Unofficial Guide

2005-10-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

Author : Jonathan S. Harbour
Publication Date : 2003

The Game Boy Advance is a sophisticated handheld video game machine, with a powerful 32-bit microprocessor, 16-bit graphics, stereo digital sound, and yet small enough to fit in your pocket. Over 140 million units sold in all, making GBA the highest selling video game system in history. The affordable price of the Game Boys, large library of games, relatively low price of games and accessories, plus portability make this a very compelling video game system. Game publishing companies and development studios like the Game Boy for its relatively low cost of entry and high potential margins.

Even so, until recently, it was nearly impossible for a hobby or student programmer to get involved in the console market. Its hardware interface and special development tools are very expensive, and require a special license with the video game manufacturer (Nintendo, in this case), which also requires a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

Now there is a solution as the Game Boy Advance uses a popular microprocessor (the ARM7 CPU) for which there are software tools available, because this chip is used in hundreds of consumer electronics products. Public domain assemblers and compilers have been written for ARM processors, and the ARM Corporation itself has released tools into the public domain for use with these products. These tools were quickly adapted for Game Boy Advance, and talented programmers were creating emulators and writing Game Boy Advance programs before the handheld was even officially released by Nintendo. This book shows the reader how to get the most of these development tools.

The goal of this book is to get you a job as a Game Boy Advance programmer. Although you may be a hobby programmer, or perhaps a professional video game developer already, the basis and assumption for this book is that you are an aspiring game programmer. The result is a very focused book that stays close to the subject matter, and as a result it is not as large as some books. However, those are books about writing PC games, while this is a console programming book.

You will need to be proficient in the C language in order to follow along in this book. Because if you want to be a game programmer, you must know C already. If you don't know C at all, you will definitely need a primer before getting into the later chapters of this book. This book doesn't cover C++ because it is overkill for Game Boy Advance development. Most of the important aspects of programming the Game Boy Advance (such as sprites) are handled by the built-in hardware routines, and don't require extensive programmer intervention. This book does not cover C++, but you may still use of C++ for writing Game Boy programs if you like. since the development tools includes a C++ compiler.

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The .NET Developer's Guide to Windows Security

2005-10-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

Author : Keith Brown
Publication Date : Sep 2004
Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional

This book was written for people involved in designing and writing software for the Microsoft .NET platform. It is chock-full of tips and insights about user-based security or the much preferred term, Windows security.

The book's organization is a bit unusual, in which topics were distilled into 75 small tidbits of information - items that link to one another - allowing you to read the book in any order that suits you. The 'what is' items focus on explaining concepts, while the 'how to' items focus on helping you perform a common task.

The book highlights new features in Windows Server 2003 and previews features of the upcoming version 2.0 of the .NET Framework. A companion Web site includes the source code and examples used throughout the book.

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Introducing Visual Basic 2005 for Developers

2005-10-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Kris Horrocks, Sean Campbell, Derek Hatchard, Peter Bernhardt, Scott Swigart
Publication Date : September 2004
Publisher : Microsoft Press

Get a focused, first look at the features and capabilities in Microsoft Visual Basic 2005, Visual Studio 2005, and .NET Framework 2.0. If you currently work with Visual Basic 6, these authors fully understand the adoption and code migration issues you’ll encounter. They’ll step you through a quick primer on .NET Framework programming, offering guidance for a productive transition. If you already work with .NET, you’ll jump directly into what’s new, learning how to extend your existing skills. From the innovations in rapid application development, debugging, and deployment, to new data access, desktop, and Web programming capabilities, you get the prerelease insights and code walkthroughs you need to get productive right away.

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The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents

2005-09-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

Reporters Without Borders has produced this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it (getting it picked up efficiently by search-engines) and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles.

記者無疆界組織推出一本指引，傳授Blog作者如何在中國、伊朗等管制言論自由的國家撰寫文章。這本名為「The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents」小冊子共有87頁，內容傳授如何匿名寫blog，以及如何避開管制的一些技術性技巧。該手冊目前也在網路上的免費開放下載，並有包括中英文在內的多種語言版本。

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Linux in the Workplace - How to Use Linux in Your Office

2005-09-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.
Publisher : No Starch Press
Publication Date : 2002

This book is different in that it assumes you don't want to install Linux, don't want to learn how to be a system administrator, and aren't concerned with doing some of the more complicated tasks. This book assumes you already have a working Linux system on your desk and need to use it to get your work done. That work probably involves email, the Web, working with documents, and performing general office tasks. Additionally, this book assumes that, in most cases, you will want to use the KDE graphical user interface (GUI) that comes with Linux to perform these tasks. (Of course, once you become proficient at all these tasks, you may want to learn what the command line is and how to do some tasks more efficiently from it.)

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Linux Security for Beginners

2005-09-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Neil A. Smyth
Publication Date : 2005

This book is designed to provide an overview of the steps needed to implement a secure environment on a Linux system and outlines some of the threats and how these weaknesses are exploited by what have come to be commonly called 'hackers'.

Linux users have some inherent advantages over their fellow Windows users when it comes to security. Linux is both more secure and less common than Windows based systems with the consequence that attacks on Linux systems occur less frequently than on Windows systems. Having said that it would be foolish to be complacent about securing any system regardless of whether it runs Windows, Linux or any other operating system.

The purpose of this book is to provide a step by step approach to securing a Linux system from outside attack. It is designed to be used and understood by both new and experienced Linux users.

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C++: A Dialog - Programming with the C++ Standard Library

2005-09-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Steve Heller
Publication date : August 2002
Publisher : Prentice Hall PTR

C++: A Dialog teaches C++ from scratch, through a one-on-one conversation with an intelligent beginner who asks the questions you'd ask. Heller's unique dialog format is brilliantly designed to clarify the concepts you might otherwise find confusing, so you can quickly learn today's most powerful and valuable C++ development techniques.

This book takes you from the absolute fundamentals through the construction of a complete inventory application, including a simple but effective user interface. Along the way, you won't just learn C++ features: you'll see exactly how professional programmers bring them together and put them to work.

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117 Ways To Increase Web Site Traffic

2005-09-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

Are you thinking of promoting your web site? If so, it is an excellent ebook that helps you a lot. This ebook provides lots of ideas for increasing your web traffic.

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Advanced Linux Programming

2005-09-17T01:16:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Mark Mitchell, Jeffrey Oldham, Alex Samuel, Jeffery Oldham
Publication date : Jun 2001
Publisher : New Riders Publishing

Advanced Linux Programming is intended for the programmer already familiar with the C programming language. Authors Alex Samuel, Jeffrey Oldham, and Mark Mitchell of CodeSourcery, LLC take a tutorial approach and teach the most important concepts and power features of the GNU/Linux system in application programs.

If you're a developer already experienced with programming for the GNU/Linux system, are experienced with another UNIX-like system and are interested in developing GNU/Linux software, or want to make the transition for a non-UNIX environment and are already familiar with the general principles of writing good software, this book is for you. In addition, you will find that this book is equally applicable to C and C++ programming. Even those progamming in other languages will find this book useful since the C language APIs and conventions are the lingua franca of GNU/Linux.

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So you want to be a Computer Game Developer?

2005-09-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

Author: Diana Gruber
Publication date : 2000

This document reveals the realities of the gaming industry. Author and game developer Diana Gruber has been kind enough to share with us what it takes to develop a game and make a living of it. Information like available jobs, details of game development, marketing and post production are presented in such a structured and humorous way - the kind of things you expected from a game developer.

Undoubtfully, this document is recommended as a guide for game developer wannabes and fellow programmers who're thinking about entering the gaming industry.

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Java: An Object First Approach

2005-09-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Fintan Culwin
Publication date : Oct 1997
Publisher : Prentice Hall

This book provides a thorough introduction to the production of software artefacts, a process known as software development, using the programming language Java. The book is intended for use with readers/students starting their software development education and can also be used at a more advanced level as an Object-Oriented book.

The author uses a spiral approach to present object-oriented concepts and techniques. The development of a class hierarchy is utilized, stressing a design, build, test cycle. An extensive case study at the conclusion of the book pulls the concepts together.

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An Introduction to GCC for the GNU Compilers gcc and g++

2005-09-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Brian J. Gough, foreword by Richard M. Stallman
Publication Date : February 2004
Publisher : Network Theory Ltd

The purpose of this book is to explain the use of the GNU C and C++ compilers, gcc and g++. After reading this book you should understand how to compile a program, and how to use basic compiler options for optimization and debugging. This book does not attempt to teach the C or C++ languages themselves, since this material can be found in many other places.

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Download GNU C Compiler (gcc)

PNG: The Definitive Guide

2005-09-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

Date: June 1999

The book is divided into three main parts and is targetted at both designers and programmers. Part I, Using PNG, consists of six chapters and covers the main categories of PNG-supporting applications: image editors, viewers, converters, web browsers and servers, and 3D apps. Chapter 1 also provides a basic overview of image types and properties.

Part II, The Design of PNG, also consists of six chapters and looks in more detail at PNG as a file format. It covers not only PNG's fundamental chunk structure and compression technology but also its history, its animated cousin MNG, and some of the intricacies of cross-platform gamma and color correction.

Part III, Programming with PNG (four chapters), steps the reader through the design of three functional demo programs based on the free libpng C library: rpng, a very simple PNG viewer; rpng2, a progressive PNG viewer such as might be found in a web browser; and wpng, a basic program to convert RGB image data from binary PBMPLUS / NetPBM format into PNG format. The final chapter in this section lists a number of other PNG-supporting programming toolkits for various languages, including C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, tcl/tk, and Visual Basic.

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1000 Java Tips

2005-09-11T01:35:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Alexandre Patchine and Dr. Heinz M. Kabutz
Publication Date : 2005

1000 Java Tips is an 856 pages of A4 format of Java tips, advises and solutions from real daily Java experiences. Compiled from the questions and answers inside the author's Java newsletter since 2001, this book covers most seeked Java topics and some other related ones. This book also enlists the help of Dr. Heinz M. Kabutz who contribute a big section of advanced Java tips, which is a compilation of articles from Dr. Heinz's newsletter.

Topics included: applets, database, beans, distributed systems, file, graphics, AWT, Swing, bugs, hardwares, tools, mobile, networking, RMI, servlets, sounds, strings, thread and a section about getting a Java-related job.

Since this book is a compilation of Java QA's and articles, the reader might not find any essence of continuity or tutorial. The reader is not even know what to expect from this book. Which means this book is not something that can be used solely to learn Java, while of course it makes a excellent companion for a good Java tutorial book. Thanks to the pdf format, this book is fully searchable. And the first thing a reader should do after opening the pdf file, is to press the Ctrl+F button.

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The Design Patterns: Java Companion

2005-09-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : James W. Cooper

Design patterns are convenient ways of reusing object-oriented code between projects and between programmers. The idea behind design patterns is simple -- write down and catalog common interactions between objects that programmers have frequently found useful.

Design Patterns is a catalog of 23 generally useful patterns for writing object-oriented software. It is written as a catalog with short examples and substantial discussions of how the patterns can be constructed and applied. Each of the 23 patterns is presented with at least one complete, visual Java program.

Nearly all of the example programs in this book use the JFC to produce the interfaces for the example code. Since not everyone may be familiar with these classes, and since the the intend is to build some basic classes from the JFC to use throughout the examples, there will be a short break after introducing the creational patterns and the readers will spend a chapter introducing the JFC. While the chapter is not a complete tutorial in every aspect of the JFC, it does introduce the most useful interface controls and shows how to use them.

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A Beginners C++

2005-09-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Neil Gray
Publication date : 2002

A Beginners C++ is primarily intended for introductory Computer Science courses that use C++ as an implementation language. However, the book should be equally suited to an individual who wants to learn how to program their own personal computer.

This book assumes that you are a computer literate. You are required to have experience with word processing packages, and possibly other packages like spreadsheets and databases. Although most schools do provide a limited introduction to programming (usually in Pascal or possibly a dialect of Basic), this book does not rely on such past experience.

It is expected that you will use one of the modern Integrated Development Environments (IDE) on a personal computer. Examples of such environments include the Borland environment for Intel PCs and the Symantec environment for Macintosh/PowerPC machines.

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Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines, Second Edition

2005-09-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Java Look & Feel Group, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Publisher: Addison Wesley Professional

Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines, Second Edition, provides essential information for anyone involved in creating cross-platform GUI (graphical user interface) applications and applets in the Java programming language. In particular, this book offers design guidelines for software that uses the Swing classes together with the Java look and feel.

This revised and expanded edition contains a collection of toolbar graphics, lists of terms localized for European and Asian languages, and an appendix on look and feel switching. New and revised guidelines are provided throughout, and new sections discuss smooth interaction, the use of badges in button graphics, and revised standards for window titles.

Although an application's human interface designer and software developer might well be the same person, the two jobs involve different tasks and require different skills and tools. Primarily, this book addresses the designer who chooses the interface elements, lays them out in a set of components, and designs the user interaction model for an application. (Unless specified otherwise, this book uses "application" to refer to both applets and applications.) This book should also prove useful for developers, technical writers, graphic artists, production and marketing specialists, and testers who participate in the creation of Java applications and applets.

The guidelines provided in this book are appropriate for GUI applications and applets that run on personal computers and network computers. They do not address the needs of software that runs on consumer electronic devices.

This book does not provide detailed discussions of human interface design principles or the design process, nor does it present much general information about usability studies.

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Using Samba

2005-09-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Robert Eckstein, David Collier-Brown and Peter Kelly
Publication date : Nov 1999
Publisher : O'Reilly & Associates

If you are a typical system administrator, then you know what it means to be swamped with work. Your daily routine is filled with endless hardware incompatibility issues, system outages, data backup problems, and a steady stream of angry users. So adding another program to the mix of tools that you have to maintain may sound a bit perplexing. However, if you're determined to reduce the complexity of your work environment, as well as the workload of keeping it running smoothly, Samba may be the tool you've been waiting for.

If you know you're facing a problem with your network and you're sure there is a better way, you are encouraged to start reading this book. Or, if you've heard about Samba and you want to see what it can do for you, this is also the place to start. You will start to understand Samba and its potential. Before long, you can provide Unix services to all your Windows machines -- all without spending tons of extra time or money.

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Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET

2005-09-05T05:18:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Ed Robinson, Robert Ian Oliver, Michael Bond, Ian Oliver
Publication Date : Dec 2001
Publisher : Microsoft Press

Those who're familiar with Visual Basic but aren't familiar with Visual Basic .NET may be wondering why there would be a book about upgrading. "How different can Visual Basic .NET be?", those people might ask. The fact is, Visual Basic .NET is not merely Visual Basic 6 with a few new features added on. Instead, Visual Basic has been thoroughly redesigned and restructured. The language has been modernized, with new, richer object models for data, forms, transactions, and almost everything else. The file formats have also changed.

Unfortunately, these changes mean that Visual Basic .NET is not entirely backward compatible with Visual Basic 6. Projects from previous versions need to be upgraded before they will compile and run in Visual Basic .NET. The Upgrade Wizard handles much of this work, but most real-world projects will require additional modifications before they can be run. Some people consider moving applications from Visual Basic 6 to .NET to be a migration rather than an upgrade.

This is where this book come to address. It is is a complete technical guide to upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6 applications to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, covering all aspects of upgrading from APIs to ZOrders. This book includes chapters on fixing upgrade issues with forms, language, data access and COM+ Services. It also shows how to add value to upgraded applications with XML Web Services, ADO.NET and .NET remoting. It shows global architectural advise, and includes a reference of function and object model changes from Visual Basic 6. The text is came with hundreds of before-and-after code samples.

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Natural Language Processing in Prolog

2005-09-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Gerald Gazdar and Chris Mellish
Publication Date : 1996

The major focus of this book, as of the field to which it provides an introduction, is on the processing of the orthographic forms of natural language utterances and text. No attempt is made to provide serious coverage of issues in speech production and recognition. Most of the book deals with the parsing and understanding of natural language, much less on the production of it. This bias reflects the present shape of the field, and of the state of knowledge. Although there is no chapter devoted to production (= language generation) as such, some discussion of it is interleaved with that on parsing and understanding.

The book is formally oriented and technical in character, and organized, for the most part, around formal techniques. The perspective adopted is that of computer science, not cognitive science. This book has no claims to make about the way the human mind processes natural language. It concentrate on areas that are beginning to be well understood, and for which standard techniques (such as chart parsing) have begun to emerge. An inevitable consequence of this emphasis is that this book spends a good deal more time on syntactic processing than on semantic or pragmatic processing. Another consequence is that discussion of developments at the leading edge of NLP research, on such topics as parallel parsing algorithms, the new-style categorial grammars, connectionist approaches, or the emerging implementations of situation semantics and discourse representation theory, are excluded altogether or relegated to the further reading sections.

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Processing XML with Java

2005-08-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

Author(s): Elliotte Rusty Harold
Publication date: April 2003
ISBN: 0201771861
Paperback: 1120 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Back in 2001, XML is something truly new that has not been seen before in the world of computing. There have been precursors to it, and there are always fanatics who insist on seeing XML through database (or object, or functional, or S-expression) colored glasses. But XML is none of these things. It is something genuinely unique and new in the world of computing; and it can only be understood when you're willing to accept it on its own terms, rather than forcing it into yesterday's pigeon holes.

There are a lot of tools, APIs, and applications in the world that try to pretend XML is something more familiar to programmers; that it's just a funny kind of database, or just like an object, or just like remote procedure calls. These APIs are occasionally useful in very restricted and predictable environments. However, they are not suitable for processing XML in its most general format. They work well in their limited domains, but they fail when presented with XML that steps outside the artificial boundaries they've defined. XML was designed to be extensible, but it's a sad fact that many of the tools designed for XML aren't nearly as extensible as XML itself.

Processing XML with Java is going to show you how to handle XML in its full generality. It pulls no punches. It does not pretend that XML is anything except XML, and it shows you how to design your programs so that they handle real XML in all its messiness: valid and invalid, mixed and unmixed, typed and untyped, and both all and none of these at the same time. To that end, this book focuses on those APIs that don't try to hide the XML. In particular, there are three major Java APIs that correctly model XML, as opposed to modeling a particular class of XML documents or some narrow subset of XML. These are:

- SAX, the Simple API for XML
- DOM, the Document Object Model
- JDOM, a Java native API

These APIs are the core of this book. In addition I cover a number of preliminaries and supplements to the basic APIs including:

- XML syntax
- DTDs, schemas, and validity
- XPath
- XSLT and the TrAX API
- JAXP, a combination of SAX, DOM, and TrAX with a few factory classes

And, since we're going to need a few examples of XML applications to demonstrate the APIs with, this book also covers XML-RPC, SOAP, and RSS in some detail. However, the techniques this book teaches are hardly limited to just those three applications.

This book is meant for Java programmers who need to do anything with XML. It teaches the fundamentals and advanced topics, leaving nothing out. It is a comprehensive course in processing XML with Java that takes developers from little knowledge of XML to designing sophisticated XML applications and parsing complicated documents. The examples cover a wide range of possible uses including file formats, data exchange, document transformation, database integration, and more.

This is not an introductory book with respect to either Java or XML. This book assumes you have substantial prior experience with Java and preferably some experience with XML.

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Iptables Tutorial 1.2.0 - Linux Firewall Configuration

2005-08-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Oskar Andreasson
Publication Date : 2005
Free License : GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1

The purpose of this book is to first provide the reader with a deep understanding of TCP/IP layers, protocols and packet formats and subsequently provide a step-by-step outline of iptables and Netfilter configuration to implement a secure Linux environment. The book also covers topics such as Network Address Translation (NAT) and both stateful and stateless packet filtering including a number of example scripts to jump-start the firewall configuration process.

On completion of this book the reader will have a clear understanding of network protocols, packet formats, firewall configuration, packet filtering concepts and practical experience using the iptables and Netfilter frameworks.

Intended Audience:

This book is intended for experienced and new Linux administrators alike, with some previous knowledge about Linux/Unix, shell scripting, as well as how to compile a kernel, and some simple knowledge about the kernel internals. It's also a recommended reading for anyone just looking to get a better understanding of network protocols and Linux firewalls.

View Iptables Tutorial 1.2.0 - Linux Firewall Configuration | Mirror at linuxtopia.org

J2ME & Gaming

2005-08-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Jason Lam
Free License : GNU General Public License

This book is about programming with J2ME on wireless devices with focus on developing games. It is assumed you have some knowledge and programming experience with J2ME and J2SE. The book does not go into detail on topics like how to make high level GUI menu but does demonstrate what a game menu might look like. Nor will it explain in detail how to use the Record Management System (RMS), but will go over topics that use RMS such as high score and game settings. As well a knowledge and experience with threading will be an asset before proceeding with game development. However, the book will go over in detail the new game classes that are now include in the MIDP 2.0.

The book also serves as quick reference for Java programmers who are interested in game mobile game development. The intent of this book is to provide good introduction for experience game developers who developed games in other languages and platforms and now are interested in using J2ME to develop games.

The first section (Chapter 1 to Chapter 5) will briefly introduce to you:
- What the mobile gaming industry is about
- What tools are available for you to get started in developing your own mobile game
- Constraints you will face in developing mobile games
- Game Design and Development Process considerations

Afterwards the remaining chapters will walk you through a basic game tutorial, albeit the game itself isn?t ground breaking, it does serve the purpose of introducing what makes up a game and more specifically a mobile game using J2ME. As well aside from the game itself it goes through several other important areas of mobile development such as the interface design of a game menu.

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The Secret Guide to Computers, 29th Edition

2005-08-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Russ Walter
Publication date : 2004
Pages : 607 pages

Russ Walter has published this book since its first edition in 1972. It consisted of only 17 pages and focused on HP-2000 computer. Since then this book has evolved into its 29th edition and praised by The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, PC World, PC Magazine, Infoworld, The New York Times, USA Today and computer experts worldwide as the best book ever written to unlock all the secrets on computer.

Unlike a "Dummies" book (which is written for dummies and keeps them dumb) and a "standard textbook" (which is shoved at overworked college students and makes them snore louder), this book throws you into the action fast, makes you competent, and then makes you wise. It explains how to buy a computer, then how to use it (covering all popular operating systems and application programs), then how to reprogram it to change its soul, then how to launch your career.

Explanations are short and to the point. It's great for those among us who haven't the time or patience to read through a lengthy or inscrutable printed or online manual. By far, this is one of the best values and a very effective way to spend a few bucks to expand your general computer savvy and get most of your common computer-related questions answered.

View The Secret Guide to Computers, 28th Edition | View the 10 first chapters of the 29th edition

Thinking in Patterns with Java

2005-08-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

Author(s): Bruce Eckel
Publication Date: 2001

Thinking in Patterns with Java originally started as a chapter on design patterns in the other Bruce Eckel's books -- Thinking in C++ and Thinking in Java. That's why this book is not an introductory book. The readers are assumed to have worked their way through Thinking in Java or an equivalent text before coming to this book, therefore have more than just a grasp of the syntax of Java. The readers should have a good understanding of objects and what they?re about, including polymorphism.

On the other hand, by going through this book the readers are going to learn a lot about object-oriented programming by seeing objects used in many different situations. If the readers' knowledge of objects is rudimentary, it will get much stronger in the process of understanding the designs in this book.

View Thinking in Patterns with Java

Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET

2005-08-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Ed Robinson, Robert Ian Oliver, Michael Bond, Ian Oliver
Publication Date : December 2001 Publisher : Microsoft Press

Those who're familiar with Visual Basic but aren't familiar with Visual Basic .NET may be wondering why there would be a book about upgrading. "How different can Visual Basic .NET be?", those people might ask. The fact is, Visual Basic .NET is not merely Visual Basic 6 with a few new features added on. Instead, Visual Basic has been thoroughly redesigned and restructured. The language has been modernized, with new, richer object models for data, forms, transactions, and almost everything else. The file formats have also changed.

Unfortunately, these changes mean that Visual Basic .NET is not entirely backward compatible with Visual Basic 6. Projects from previous versions need to be upgraded before they will compile and run in Visual Basic .NET. The Upgrade Wizard handles much of this work, but most real-world projects will require additional modifications before they can be run. Some people consider moving applications from Visual Basic 6 to .NET to be a migration rather than an upgrade.

This is where this book come to address. It is is a complete technical guide to upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6 applications to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, covering all aspects of upgrading from APIs to ZOrders. This book includes chapters on fixing upgrade issues with forms, language, data access and COM+ Services. It also shows how to add value to upgraded applications with XML Web Services, ADO.NET and .NET remoting. It shows global architectural advise, and includes a reference of function and object model changes from Visual Basic 6. The text is came with hundreds of before-and-after code samples.

Intended Audience:

All in all, this book is an essential reference for Visual Basic 6 programmers who are considering moving up to Visual Basic .NET.

View Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET

Linux Firewall Configuration: Packet Filtering and Netfilter/iptables

2005-08-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Oskar Andreasson
Publication Date : 2005
Free License : GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1

The purpose of this book is to first provide the reader with a deep understanding of TCP/IP layers, protocols and packet formats and subsequently provide a step-by-step outline of iptables and Netfilter configuration to implement a secure Linux environment. The book also covers topics such as Network Address Translation (NAT) and both stateful and stateless packet filtering including a number of example scripts to jump-start the firewall configuration process.

On completion of this book the reader will have a clear understanding of network protocols, packet formats, firewall configuration, packet filtering concepts and practical experience using the iptables and Netfilter frameworks.

Intended Audience:

This book is intended for experienced and new Linux administrators alike, with some previous knowledge about Linux/Unix, shell scripting, as well as how to compile a kernel, and some simple knowledge about the kernel internals. It's also a recommended reading for anyone just looking to get a better understanding of network protocols and Linux firewalls.

View Linux Firewall Configuration: Packet Filtering and Netfilter/iptables

Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines, 2nd Edition

2005-08-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Java Look & Feel Group, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
ISBN : 0-201-72588-6
Publication Date : Sep 2001
Publisher: Addison Wesley Professional

Book excerpts:

Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines, Second Edition, provides essential information for anyone involved in creating cross-platform GUI (graphical user interface) applications and applets in the Java programming language. In particular, this book offers design guidelines for software that uses the Swing classes together with the Java look and feel.

This revised and expanded edition contains a collection of toolbar graphics, lists of terms localized for European and Asian languages, and an appendix on look and feel switching. New and revised guidelines are provided throughout, and new sections discuss smooth interaction, the use of badges in button graphics, and revised standards for window titles.

Although an application's human interface designer and software developer might well be the same person, the two jobs involve different tasks and require different skills and tools. Primarily, this book addresses the designer who chooses the interface elements, lays them out in a set of components, and designs the user interaction model for an application. (Unless specified otherwise, this book uses "application" to refer to both applets and applications.) This book should also prove useful for developers, technical writers, graphic artists, production and marketing specialists, and testers who participate in the creation of Java applications and applets.

The guidelines provided in this book are appropriate for GUI applications and applets that run on personal computers and network computers. They do not address the needs of software that runs on consumer electronic devices.

This book does not provide detailed discussions of human interface design principles or the design process, nor does it present much general information about usability studies.

ViewJava Look and Feel Design Guidelines, Second Edition

Linux Security for Beginners

2005-08-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

Author(s) : Neil A. Smyth
Publication Date : 2005

Book excerpts :

There is a saying in the security world that the only truly safe computer system is one that is disconnected from the network, switched off and buried six feet under ground. The sentiment may be somewhat true but it is hardly a practical solution to the problems we face today in protecting servers and desktops from outside intrusion.

There are more computer systems connected to the internet either directly or via local area networks than at any time in the history of technology and the numbers are growing at a rapid rate. It seems that not a month goes by without another story in the news about the internal network of a major corporation being compromised by an intruder.

Fortunately all is not lost and we do not have to pull the network cables out of the back of our computer systems. With careful planning and system configuration it is quite possible to create a secure environment that will cause the hacker to move on to the next, easier target without rendering the entire system useless.

Why Linux ?

This book is designed to provide an overview of the steps needed to implement a secure environment on a Linux system and outlines some of the threats and how these weaknesses are exploited by what have come to be commonly called 'hackers'.

Linux users have some inherent advantages over their fellow Windows users when it comes to security. Linux is both more secure and less common than Windows based systems with the consequence that attacks on Linux systems occur less frequently than on Windows systems. Having said that it would be foolish to be complacent about securing any system regardless of whether it runs Windows, Linux or any other operating system.

The purpose of this book is to provide a step by step approach to securing a Linux system from outside attack. It is designed to be used and understood by both new and experienced Linux users.

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Welcome

2005-08-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this free online ebook blog